Environment
It’s official: Michigan throws out less stuff
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By QING ZHANG
Capital News Service
LANSING — Despite a slight increase in Michigan’s population, solid waste generated in the state in 2013 declined 0.5 percent, continuing a 10-year trend, according to a report by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). And the state still has almost three decades’ worth of landfill capacity, the report said. Waste imported from other states and Canada increased by more than 8 percent. Canada is the largest source of imported trash, accounting for about 17 percent of the total waste landfilled in Michigan last year, according to the report. “Compared with residential waste, we are receiving more commercial and industrial waste from our neighbor,” said Brad Wurfel, communications director for DEQ, and that may signify increased economic activities.